Tsuyako "Sox" Kitashima, an icon of San Francisco's Japantown who helped Japanese Americans gain redress for their confinement in government-run internment camps during World War II, has died.

Mrs. Kitashima died Dec. 29 of an apparent heart attack at a San Francisco care home. She was 87.

In the 1980s, Mrs. Kitashima helped organize community participation in the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians hearings and became a spokeswoman for the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations.

Her efforts culminated in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which granted a formal governmental apology and compensatory payments to Japanese Americans detained during wartime.

She was awarded a Free Spirit Award from The Freedom Forum in 1998 for her efforts.

Carole Hayashino, a vice president at California State University Sacramento, called Mrs. Kitashima one of the strongest advocates for passage of the legislation.

"I have often called Sox the godmother of San Francisco Japantown because she took care of so many people in the Japanese American community and the Asian American community," said Hayashino.

"She was also an educator for our children. She spent a lot of time talking to students, sharing her experiences and the lessons of the Japanese American internment experience."